The Olive Opinion

  Some say movies like Bend It Like Beckham , decades ago, or more recently Never Have I Ever , made promising progress in South Asian representation in Hollywood. Best Of The Best makes it very clear that the hunger for this representation is present and can be expressed in ways that could build recognition for creatives.  Lena Khan, who directed several TV episodes and is best known for her work with Maitreyi Ramakrishnan on the breakout show that made her the recognizable face we all know and love, helms this Netflix film to flesh out the world of a very prominent competitive culture in American universities: Bollywood Fusion dance teams. Against the backdrop of UCLA, two childhood friends, Maya (Ramakrishnan) and Anjali, played by newcomer Priyanka Kedia, join the dance team and become deeply involved in the South Asian culture it embraces.  The film very much portrays that culture within every college these days that has a South Asian Student Association (SASA), as...

  The beloved video game franchise has been adapted into several movies and TV shows countless times in the last 20 years, and none have really pleased fans or casual viewers alike. You'd think they would stop, but they never gave up on it. Now, with Zach Cregger at the helm, Sony has brought back Resident Evil with the intention of possibly revitalizing the franchise in hopes of being considered part of not only the current horror renaissance but also the slew of successful video game adaptations.  Cregger, director of The Barbarian and Weapons , intended to create an experience with his third outing that might recreate the feeling of a bystander watching someone else play the games. He also uses his filmmaking and writing styles to create a fresh take on the otherworldly world-building that has become integral to video games and the survival-horror subgenre.  He manages to do it extremely well, with the intention of certain shots conveying the POV in PlayStation singl...

  So what happens when you put Dinosaurs attacking suburban America in the 80's? I think J.J. Abrams and David Robert Mitchell have your answer. The End of Oak Street is the last movie of the summer, in hopes of competing with the very prominent and popular choices that audiences would rather flock to see in cinemas. The concept of this film is interesting, as Anne Hathaway (in her fourth feature this year) and Ewan McGregor are suburban parents, with their two kids played by Maisy Stella and Christian Convery, who are facing difficulties in their nuclear family dynamic and are forced to survive as their street is transported to the age of the dinosaurs. A concept that, personally, intrigued me before I ever watched a trailer.  Unfortunately, the film seems to be living in an era when the 80s were cool again, but it is instead a reminder that maybe that trend has officially run its course. There have been several TV shows and movies that used the 80's to possibly kickstart wha...

  If anyone had asked 10 years ago whether a Camp Rock sequel would ever happen, I would have said it wouldn't be right to make another without Demi Lovato or the Jonas Brothers, despite their personal relationships with each other and with Disney. Now, 19 years since the movie that spawned cringe-worthy memes and made Lovato the superstar she is now, she returns WITH the Jonas Brothers to produce an all-new generation of the franchise.  Camp Rock 3 now focuses on new characters attending the iconic camp and finding themselves in an opportunity to be Connect 3's (The literal fictional equivalent of the Jonas Brothers, if anyone forgot) new opening act. This Disney Channel sequel closely follows the original film's familiar plot structure, from its musical elements to the Final Jam, which serves as a turning point for these characters to fully realize themselves in their subsequent arcs and learn lessons along the way. Liamani Segura, who plays the main role as Sage, is a s...

  Yes, we get a whole month with not only Tom Holland but also Zendaya and Jon Bernthal in the fourth (yes, we are making waves here) Spider-Man sequel. This has been a long time coming, as Marvel and Sony's once rocky but stable relationship would follow up on the event that was Spider-Man: No Way Home , which brought back past Spider-Man actors to interact in a Multiverse-esque adventure. Luckily, Tom Holland returns as the iconic webslinger in an all-new chapter of his life and hopefully for the MCU as well.  Spider-Man: Brand New Day is set 4 years after No Way Home , where Peter Parker is very much alone after the spell made by Doctor Strange to have everyone, including his loved ones, forget who he is. At the height of being the comic-accurate friendly neighborhood superhero ways, some very critical fans of this iteration of the character will also be pleased that Peter Parker is indeed very depressed and very broke. When faced with a mysterious threat, Peter is also go...

  The phenomenon is here. The movie everyone has been waiting for (maybe some people aren't), by the world-acclaimed director Christopher Nolan, returns with his latest feature, The Odyssey , adapting one of the oldest epic poems to the big screen. There has been a lot of talk around this movie, from its use of IMAX cameras to its overall tone to the ethnically blind casting and whether it was meant to be watched on the big screen, as Nolan intended.  The Odyssey , if anyone isn't aware yet, tells the tale of Odysseus's attempts to return home with his crew after the siege of Troy, an event also recounted in another of Homer's epics, The Iliad, which is set during the Trojan War. As they return, they face various obstacles rooted in Greek mythology. With a more realistic take that leans into realism, Nolan depicts what I personally consider fantasy as something that might have occurred in history, rather than even questioning the involvement of the gods and the magic th...